a policy-engaged research initiative

Inclusion Economics Nepal

Enabling inclusive economies and societies

About us

Inclusion Economics Nepal is an initiative affiliated with Inclusion Economics at Yale University, founded and based out of the Yale Economic Growth Center and MacMillan Center. Inclusion Economics Nepal is based at, and accountable to, Nepal’s Governance Lab at the Daayitwa Abhiyaan. Inclusion Economics Nepal collaborates with the Inclusion Economics at Yale University team to enable inclusive economies and societies through research and policy engagement.

Inclusion Economics at Yale University is a policy-engaged research initiative based out of the Economic Growth Center and the MacMillan Center, collaborating with Inclusion Economics India Centre at IFMR and Inclusion Economics Nepal at Governance Lab – as well as colleagues at other universities. The initiative builds on a number of multi-year studies and policy engagements that began at Evidence for Policy Design at Harvard Kennedy School, as well as new projects. Program-affiliated hub offices based outside of Yale are independent research centers accountable to their home institutions.

Our Methods

Drawing insights from various disciplines, Inclusion Economics research focuses on a set of linked activities:

Innovative data collection to identify who is failing to access resources they need, and the invisible social and power structures that constrain opportunity.

High-quality research to understand how to promote and sustain inclusive and accountable institutions.

Close engagement with stakeholders ranging from government officials and local researchers to marginalized individuals to ensure research addresses policy-relevant questions and provides timely insights.

Communication of data-driven insights to shape narratives and understanding on inclusion.

Our Projects

Political Transformation in Nepal: Candidate Selection and Electoral Consequences

Research and Evidence for Nepal's Transition

Revolutions disrupt power dynamics; can they also lead to broader political representation for marginalized groups? Focusing on Nepal’s first fully democratic local elections, the first after long-term instability, the team at Inclusion Economics evaluated how well new representatives reflect Nepal’s ethnic diversity.

Can decentralizing government power to local officials remedy long-standing political and economic inequities? The Research and Evidence for Nepal’s Transition (RENT) program is building a practical evidence base on what works to enable more inclusive economic development.

Our Team

Medha Joshi

SR. RESEARCH MANAGER

Medha leads the Research and Evidence for Nepal’s Transition (RENT) project. Her research interests lie in the area of governance and accountability.

Prior to working at GovLab, she was working as a consultant at the World Bank facilitating the Agile Bank Evaluation survey to map out the management practices within units and staff experiences within the organization. She has also served as a Teach For Nepal Fellow teaching English to secondary school students in rural Lalitpur.

Pratigya Adhikary

SR. OPERATIONS AND PARTNERSHIP MANAGER

Pratigya works on day-to-day operational and long-term strategic goals of IE Nepal. She has an experience of over a decade in managing operations and communications in various organizations.

She holds a MPhil degree from Tribhuvan University, Nepal.

ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT

Sakila Chaudhary

Sakila looks after administration in Inclusion Economics Nepal at Governance Lab. She has completed her bachelor’s degree in Business Studies form St. Xavier’s College. Previously, she worked as an Admin in a Telecom project.

Gauri Shankar Gautam

SENIOR RESEARCH ASSOCIATE

Gauri Shankar has completed his Bachelor’s in Computer Science and Master’s in Economics from Howard University. His interests lie at the intersection of politics and economics with a focus on issues of representation and inclusion. At Inclusion Economics Nepal, his role is to provide assistance in collecting data from different sources, cleaning them up and getting insights from them to answer broader research questions.answer broader research questions.

Aayushma Manandhar

RESEARCH ASSOCIATE

Aayushma holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from Kathmandu University School of Arts. She is a Research Associate at Governance Lab, and works under Inclusion Economics Nepal.

Anubhav Dhakal